Summary: Teachers spend lots of time with our children. Their influence is huge. Meet Mrs.F our February Teacher of the Month!
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Teachers are so crucial to our childrens lives. They spend 100s of hours with their students and reports I have been reading online about personal spending on their classrooms is mind-boggling to me. Teachers spend an average of $300-$500 dollars on their classrooms each year. Out of their personal finances. Wow. There is a non-profit site you can visit called Adopt a Classroom to find out how you can help teachers from all over the country or even right here in our community. (adoptaclassroom.org)
Congratulations to Martha Fankhauser from Miller Avenue in Sugarcreek, she is our February Teacher of the Month! I was so excited to meet Mrs. F, I have heard so much about her from parents and former students. Jill and Jillian Borter submitted Mrs. F, who, like many others I have talked to sang such amazing praises for this First Grade Teacher. In fact, Ive heard a few Best Teacher in the WORLD comments. When I arrived to congratulate Mrs. F my greeting was so cheerful and fun. You could tell the classroom is her passion and I got to ask her some great questions:
How long have you been a teacher and what is one of your favorite things about teaching?
I have been teaching for a long time, yet it seems to have gone by very quickly. I began in New Philadelphia and taught 2 years, then 1 year at Newcomerstown. I have been with Garaway Schools for 35 years. Wow! I'm old! I have loved this job! I always wanted to be a nun, but in high school I became a cheerleader and decided I liked the shorter skirts compared to the nun's attire. "The Sound of Music" was my favorite movie and I identified with Maria, so the nun idea was out and teaching was it for me. As I prepare to retire this June, I look back and smile because it has been a great ride. The most important aspect of the job to me is the connection with the youth and the friendships that continue long after the students leave my classroom.
How have you cultivated learning in the classroom and what are some things you shared with your students that will help them be better people even outside of the classroom?
From animals in the classroom, pen-pal programs, plays, history museums, veteran's day activities, painting the blacktop, burying time capsules in the back of the school, I could go on and on. Through all the activities, the most important ideas I tried to teach were to be rooted and to be responsible and respectful. We called these our 3R's:
Rooted: to know who your were and how you wanted to grow. Responsible: to not let yourself or others down.
Respectful: treat others as you wish to be treated.
I worked to cultivate those principles in everything we did. Hopefully if any of my students read this, they too will remember how important those ideas were to our everyday interactions. The students have been both fabulous and fantastic and Ive been blessed beyond words to have
shared my time with them.
Thanks Mrs. F for all the years you have loved and taught students, what a lovely example you have been.
Stik a Fork in to submitting your favorite Teacher of the Month by emailing me: leeann@leeannmiller.net
The following establishments have helped me honor Mrs. F.: Dexterity Salon, Heini's Cheese, Troyer's Country Market, Berlin Village Gift Barn, Chuck Nicholson Auto, Dutchman Hospitality, Rebecca's Bistro, Nature's Food Market and Coblentz Chocolates.
